Bounce back game for Russell. Ingram still looking strong and using that length of his so much better than earlier in the season. Luke went with the three guard lineup down the stretch...and despite some late game heroics from Conley, the Lakers pulled off the win. A painful win in the tankathon.

Last edited by DancingBarry on Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:36 pm; edited 1 time in total

Bye._________________"This trophy removes the most odious sentence in the English Language. It can never be said again that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.'" -Dr. Jerry Buss (1985) R.I.P., 33 x M.V.O.

One of the missing elements of this season was having players playing well at the same time. It seemed that from the time of the 10-10 start, the injuries hit, then rotations changed, and we could never develop a rhythm.

Nick was hot but Deng was cold as ice. Lou Williams was excelling while Ingram is being called the "statistically worse starter in the league".

The expectations for D'Angelo were unreasonable, and because they were, he struggled as a second year "coach on the floor" will do. But today they played well together especially BI & Russell. Julius was under control, Larry had his energy that seems to ebb and flow.

Jordan's always a ball of energy, the problem is harnessing it through slowing down, which hopefully experience will help develop.

I am ecstatic when our youngsters carry the bulk of the minutes and win the game. It's an irreplaceable emotional experience that the people who want to see them lose don't appreciate how badly they need it.

Joined: 17 Sep 2008Posts: 18037Location: In a white room, with black curtains near the station

Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 5:37 am Post subject:

One thing Walton is doing very well right now is leaving his rookies hung out to dry with no vet presence to back them up. If we lose, we get better odds in the draft lotto. If we win, it's because the young core we have is figuring out how to win games without leaning on vets when the other team's vets turn the volume up in crunch time.

One thing Walton is doing very well right now is leaving his rookies hung out to dry with no vet presence to back them up. If we lose, we get better odds in the draft lotto. If we win, it's because the young core we have is figuring out how to win games without leaning on vets when the other team's vets turn the volume up in crunch time.

Great game.

RIGHT. And why this has not been the model all year is beyond me? It's been clear for a few years that re-building through the draft (or acquiring assets) is a viable model under the cap structure that currently exists. Am thinking that using the vet contracts, like Mozgov and Deng is a strategy to meet the floor in the cap system, while insuring bad performance (and thus acquire more assets like they did in Philly.).

One thing Walton is doing very well right now is leaving his rookies hung out to dry with no vet presence to back them up. If we lose, we get better odds in the draft lotto. If we win, it's because the young core we have is figuring out how to win games without leaning on vets when the other team's vets turn the volume up in crunch time.

Great game.

RIGHT. And why this has not been the model all year is beyond me? It's been clear for a few years that re-building through the draft (or acquiring assets) is a viable model under the cap structure that currently exists. Am thinking that using the vet contracts, like Mozgov and Deng is a strategy to meet the floor in the cap system, while insuring bad performance (and thus acquire more assets like they did in Philly.).

We went 10-10 to start the season.
Luke rightfully thought that we could fight for a playoff spot.

And Lou Williams was playing so well that Luke couldn't simply take him out of the rotation.

I took my son to his first game last night, and we had a great time! We had pretty good seats, but I couldn't see Dlo's feet when he forgot he had to dribble the ball or keep his pivot.

Since I was just enjoying the game with my son, there wasn't a lot of focus on X's and O's, but here are some thoughts.

Nance is a valuable man on the court. He just knows where to be so often. His vertical seems to overshadow his BB IQ, but I like his discipline and awareness. His three ball looked really good. He only took one shot from three, but it was clear that it was going in.

Those early turnovers by Dlo were really perplexing. He tried to pass through a wall on one play. There was no daylight at all. Other times, he made clean passes. His passes really have some extra zip on them compared to others. His bounce pounces have a lot of movement on them, which was evident live. He was decisive when the lane was available to him, rather than getting stuck in surveying mode.

Thomas Robinson's energy was really nice, but I can see why he's a reserve. He can seem kind of lost on the court, but makes up for it with hustle. There was one funny play where he was bringing up the ball with spin moves and crossovers. The crowd was loving it, but it made me uncomfortable.

Ingram has really benefited (at least in the present) by spending time around the high post, where he can size up a player and get a shot off with one dribble move. He didn't play many minutes, but I think that was a good thing for his knee. He's had one too many 40 minute games for my liking. I don't know if this was mentioned before, but he is really slim in person.

Quiet game from Clarkson, but I do like how he mostly let the game come to him, even though it was a rough shooting night. Nice spot up three in the first half. Found Dlo diving when driving to the basket.

I honestly didn't realize that Randle had 18 points until I got home and checked the box score. I noticed his impact on the court (e.g., rebounding, bodying people up on D), but it was a composed 18 where it didn't feel like he was forcing it. He was 1/4 from 3, but I'm glad he is taking the shots. We need him to keep the D honest. On D, he needs to work on staying aware of the off-ball movement.

The crowd, at least where I was sitting, was very supportive of our young crew. As you know, Dlo had a really rough 1st quarter, but the crowd kept rooting for him. That was particularly nice to see when the narrative on ESPN is that everyone is tired of his act. People seem to also be high on Brandon and were waiting for him to come back in._________________Welcome, Lonzo!

Kuuuuuz!

"...there was a time when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and all of a sudden, bread came down from heaven,” Pelinka said. “That’s kind of what today feels like for us to have KCP join.”

Tanks 4 Nothin… Meek Mill is probably somewhere shaking his head after watching this game. See, Meek understands that taking L's is all about consistency. Lakers as a team shot 47.1% from the field against a wounded Memphiz Griz team. That type ah effort is not going to get er done. Although the Grizzers made half of their shots, without Mdot in the middle to clean up, they were outrebounded 57-38 by a Luke led team looking to tank it up.

Russ Russ recovered from his first quarter apple turnovers. He led the team in points scored and had a perfect night from the stripe and whatnot, but was Larry Coon impressed? Meek Mill wasn't. This game saw the Lakers snatch the season series from the Grizzers and send #teamtankers into panic mode. Mike Conley, sporting a fairly decent haircut, was none to happy about the slippage. "These are games that could have seeding impact for us," he said after losing. Speaking of the devil, Luke lamented why this game was especially special not only to the Meek Mills of the world, but to everyone in purp 'n gold. "Our guys are tired of losing," L-dubb said.

Russell -- -- Best player on the court tonight. Nah, just playin'. Russ Russ was ballin. Making shots, hitting free throws, baking apple turnovers with brown sugar and maple syrup in that first quarter. If he performs this way against Hawaii Leonard and the Curves, they will eat well that night. Russ Russ had this to say about the Conley and his hairdo, "That's my guy. He's one of the vets I've looked up to for a long time. He's really paved the way for a guy like me." Russ Russ led the team in assist and apple turnovers. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 9-17 shooting (3-6 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, 0 steals and 2 fouls in 36:03. He was a -nancy. The Action: He did stuff while he was on the court tonight.

Tanks 4 Nothin… Meek Mill is probably somewhere shaking his head after watching this game. See, Meek understands that taking L's is all about consistency. Lakers as a team shot 47.1% from the field against a wounded Memphiz Griz team. That type ah effort is not going to get er done. Although the Grizzers made half of their shots, without Mdot in the middle to clean up, they were outrebounded 57-38 by a Luke led team looking to tank it up.

Russ Russ recovered from his first quarter apple turnovers. He led the team in points scored and had a perfect night from the stripe and whatnot, but was Larry Coon impressed? Meek Mill wasn't. This game saw the Lakers snatch the season series from the Grizzers and send #teamtankers into panic mode. Mike Conley, sporting a fairly decent haircut, was none to happy about the slippage. "These are games that could have seeding impact for us," he said after losing. Speaking of the devil, Luke lamented why this game was especially special not only to the Meek Mills of the world, but to everyone in purp 'n gold. "Our guys are tired of losing," L-dubb said.

Russell -- -- Best player on the court tonight. Nah, just playin'. Russ Russ was ballin. Making shots, hitting free throws, baking apple turnovers with brown sugar and maple syrup in that first quarter. If he performs this way against Hawaii Leonard and the Curves, they will eat well that night. Russ Russ had this to say about the Conley and his hairdo, "That's my guy. He's one of the vets I've looked up to for a long time. He's really paved the way for a guy like me." Russ Russ led the team in assist and apple turnovers. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 9-17 shooting (3-6 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, 0 steals and 2 fouls in 36:03. He was a -nancy. The Action: He did stuff while he was on the court tonight.

One thing Walton is doing very well right now is leaving his rookies hung out to dry with no vet presence to back them up. If we lose, we get better odds in the draft lotto. If we win, it's because the young core we have is figuring out how to win games without leaning on vets when the other team's vets turn the volume up in crunch time.

Great game.

I agree. Luke has been coaching much better ever since he "gave up". However, he should have done this WAYYY earlier.

If he had, we would have either been way better, or would have been in better tank position.

His over reliance on Lou, NY, and the bench basically stopped the growth of the young players while getting a few extra wins thus hurting our chances with the pick._________________Llluuukkkeee

One thing Walton is doing very well right now is leaving his rookies hung out to dry with no vet presence to back them up. If we lose, we get better odds in the draft lotto. If we win, it's because the young core we have is figuring out how to win games without leaning on vets when the other team's vets turn the volume up in crunch time.

Great game.

I agree. Luke has been coaching much better ever since he "gave up". However, he should have done this WAYYY earlier.

If he had, we would have either been way better, or would have been in better tank position.

His over reliance on Lou, NY, and the bench basically stopped the growth of the young players while getting a few extra wins thus hurting our chances with the pick.

What vets were the team leaning on - Deng (Mr. MIA), Mosgov (Mr. No Offense or Defense), Swaggy (Talented Shoot First who has been very inconsistent) or MWP.

LouWill was hampering because the young players were too dependent on him and they weren't learning when he was the court